EC EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN SUMMER PROGRAMS: Leadership vs. Management

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Leadership vs. Management

We're nearing the end of the program, and Lord have mercy I don't want it to end. I really don't; the amount of things I've seen and amount of things I've experienced on this program are numerous and the amount of intriguing conversations and encounters are many more than I would usually get in one whole entire academic semester. Yeah, I said it. These three weeks have had more than I've gotten in 3 months.

Seeing what we talk about in the classroom in action is one of the highlights here, and it takes me to a conversation / discussion we had in Statecraft today. The issue of Leadership vs. Management.

What consists of a true leader? What consists of a true manager? I'd wager to say that all leaders and managers are of two special toolkits; your red pills and blue pills for a lack of a better concept. They both have their own concepts and do their own special things, and cannot be confused for each other. I firmly believe that leaders are leaders because they shift the paradigm and that managers are managers because they keep the systems stable and in place. Why? Because they cannot be one another. They can only be good versions of each other. Good leaders like Kwame Nkrumah shifted the paradigm. They took the road less traveled. Managers would be individuals like Hillary Clinton, as she continues policies established by Bill Clinton.

This leads into the leadership crisis that's been established out here that's really spooky. Like, where are we headed from here? Clearly, some of the issues we have currently (re: the Eurozone Crisis) stem from a lack of concrete leadership. Look at Tsipras. Look at the outlook for Greece in this complicated era. How do we fix all of this? It's really a lot to think about friends, isn't it.

Love u.

No comments:

Post a Comment

EC Eastern Security Studies Program

In the summer of 2011, as the "Arab Spring" was unfolding and the "Eurozone Crisis" was entering its second year, the Emmanuel College Eastern Mediterranean Security Studies Program was established in Crete, as a way to make the location the classroom. Beyond the grand theoretical, historical and political understanding that can be achieved through reading and classroom discussion and exchange, a more immediate, intimate and truer appreciation of the complexities can only achieved by experiencing the cultures, languages of personal interaction.

Since 2012 students have been able to combine an intensive curricular study, with the experience of immersion and living in a local setting. The geopolitical and geoeconomic forces that have acted in the region for centuries, can be identified in the classroom, but they can only be understood by being there. This year's EC EMSS Program will add a fourth week of study, experience and exploration and will also travel to the islands of Rhodes, and Cyprus. In Rhodes we will be partnering with the Prefecture of Southern Aegean and the Aegean University, while in Cyprus we will be hosted by the University of Nicosia.